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Monday, July 28, 2014

I've been interested antique and vintage Kewpie dolls for a while now. Such adorable little faces with precious side glancing eyes. Imagine my surprise to walk in to Tuesday Morning and find new Kewpie dolls on the shelf!

The History of Kewpie

In case anyone isn't familiar with Kewpie Dolls, here's a little background information. Rose O'Neill, born in 1874, was an American illustrator, artist and writer. In 1909, she created the popular comic characters, Kewpies. According to O'Neill, the idea for Kewpies came to her in a dream. Her first Kewpie illustrations were printed in the December 1909 issue of Ladies' Home Journal, and from there, Kewpie became internationally popular. Her Kewpie illustrations were sculpted into dolls in 1912.

The first Kewpie dolls were made of bisque by J.D. Kestner in Germany from 1912-1915.

Kewpie dolls were an international hit, and by 1914, O'Neill had become the highest paid female illustrator in the country. The Kewpie brand became a household name, and her illustrations were used to advertise products from Kellog's Corn Flakes to Jell-O, Colgate, and Sears.

Composition and celluloid Kewpie dolls were produced in the United States from 1916 to the 1930's.

Composition Kewpie

Celluloid Kewpie

Sears Catalog 1922

Wow, can you believe composition Kewpie dolls were only 58¢ each from the Sears Catalog in 1922?

In 1949, Effanbee created the first hard plastic Kewpie dolls. Soft rubber and vinyl Kewpies were produced by Cameo and Jesco starting in the 1960's.

Kewpie Today

I am excited to see that after 100 years, Kewpie dolls are still popular enough to be found in stores today.

These come in a clear plastic box with a pink and green cardboard liner. The front of the box simply says Kewpie An American Treasure.

Here's little Kewpie Bunny Hop out of her box. The dolls stand about 8" tall (not including their costumes).

Her pink jacket with ruffled sleeves has a tag attached that says Kewpie Handcrafted in China for Cameo Collectibles.

Her furry white and pink bunny ear headband is removable.

Under her pink jacket, she is wearing a white eyelet sundress with gathered top, pink and white floral trim, organza sleeves, and pink tulle attached underskirt.

The dress closes in the back with two hook and eye fasteners. She is marked Jesco on her back.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a little red heart actually painted on her chest, reminiscent of the red paper heart sticker the first Kewpie dolls had. She has white bloomers, white lacy socks with tiny pink bows in the back, and pink shoes.

Her complete ensemble.

She has painted side-glancing eyes with tiny painted upper lashes, the classic watermelon smile, and rosy chubby cheeks. She has molded tufts of hair on the top, sides, and back of her head.

She is jointed at the neck, shoulders, and hips.

She has cute dimpled knees and the impression of her big toe sculpted on each foot. She can stand well on her own with or without her shoes.

She has chubby starfish shaped hands.

I like her best dressed in her eyelet dress sans the jacket and bunny ears. I'll save the jacket for winter and the bunny ears for Halloween or Easter. For now, I like seeing her cute little molded tufts of hair.

My 11 year old daughter picked Kewpie dressed in a Sock Monkey costume.

The little Sock Monkey hat is so adorable and it is very well made with embroidered monkey face, a big pom pom on top, and smaller pom pom tassels hanging from the hat's ear flaps.

Actually, all of the Kewpie clothes are very well made with embroidered details, lining, finished seams, snaps, and hook and eye fasteners (no velcro). The back of the Sock Monkey costume closes with two snaps. There's even a little curled monkey tail.

There are little monkey footprint toes embroidered on the bottom of the feet.

Her dress closes in the back with one snap and one hook and eye fastener.

Underneath all the layers of ruffles, she has on white bloomers.

She has white socks with pink tulle ruffles and grey shoes with embroidered kitty faces.

I haven't seen Kewpie dolls at any other stores. I did find them on toysrus.com for $34.99 each, but they appear to be out of stock. I think these are an excellent deal at Tuesday Morning for just $14.99.

I also have to show you this vintage bisque Kewpie that I got for my birthday Saturday. Local antique store find. The sticker on the bottom says Made in Japan.

I'm adding this picture of Kewpie with Mini American Girl Kit for size comparison. Mini American Girls are 6" tall. Kewpie, at 8", is a little taller and of course chubbier.

What do you think of the Kewpie dolls from Tuesday Morning? Any Kewpie collectors out there? Please leave a comment below.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Bargain hunting is one of my favorite things to do! I thought it might be fun to share some pictures and details of my most recent finds. There are some great deals to be found at flea markets, antique stores, garage sales, and thrift stores. I definitely don't find something every time though, so I want to encourage you to keep hunting. It takes a lot of looking at a lot of places to find something wonderful. And don't be afraid to ask for a better price, sometimes shopkeepers are willing to bargain.

One of my most exciting recent finds was an American Girl Samantha. We stopped by a store called the White Elephant, which is kind of a cross between an antique store and a flea market, like many of the stores are here. I've actually only been to this store a few times because it's about 45 minutes away and I'm not in that area very often. While I was looking in the glass cases in the front of the store, my three daughters went to look around in the back where they found Samantha. When I saw them coming back with her, I was almost afraid to ask the price, but surprisingly her tag said just $9.95.

We were so excited. My daughters couldn't have been happier if they had found a gold mine. I'm sure they felt they had actually. I was really surprised to see that she was marked Pleasant Company too. She is old to be in such good shape.

She was wearing her meet outfit. She even has her black tights, shoes, and her hair bow. I am still in shock over finding her for such a bargain.

In a previous post, I showed another exciting find, my Arranbee Nancy, an antique composition doll from the 1930-40's that I bought from a collector's estate. Here she is again with Samantha for size comparison. At 20" tall Nancy is a little bigger than Samantha.

I fell in love with these two Daisy Kingdom dolls when I saw them at a flea market Saturday. These are from 1991, and they were originally sold just like this in their underwear and shoes. I remember Daisy Kingdom from when my oldest daughter was young. The dolls were designed to wear Daisy Kingdom dresses that you sew. Simplicity made sewing patterns for matching little girl and doll dresses. There were also printed fabric panels to cut and sew to make doll dresses. I paid $20 for the pair of dolls.

Here they are with Samantha for size comparison. The larger doll is about 17" tall and she reminds me of an antique Effanbee Patsy. Also, I see that sellers on eBay advertise her Daisy Kingdom dress patterns to fit American Girl dolls. The smaller doll is about 12" tall and she reminds me of an antique Scootles doll. They are both all vinyl, jointed at the neck, shoulders, and hips.

My most favorite place for bargain hunting is a local place called the Trade Mart. They have over 50 vendors who are constantly bringing in new things. I found this little girl there for just $1. Not sure why the vendor decided to price her for only $1, but I am thrilled to have her!

She a Horsman doll from the 1950's. She is about 12-13" tall, and is marked Horsman 20 on her neck. She appears to be in her original dress, socks and shoes.

I also found all three of these carriages and the tricycle at the Trade Mart, of course not all on the same day.

The largest carriage was only $17.50. Here it is with 20" tall Nancy, so as you can see it is quite large.

I also found this vintage Bye-Lo Baby there for $8. It's a good fit for the largest carriage.

The medium size carriage is a good size for the 12" Horsman doll to push. It was only $8.

The tricycle is a good size for her too. It is made of wood and metal.

The smallest carriage came with two vintage baby dolls for $5.50.

This little girl was too cute to pass up for $10. The vendor had written Shirley Temple on her price tag.

I checked her neck and saw that she was a Dianna Effner doll.

She has a wire armature in her arms and legs to make her posable.

She also has a jointed neck so that she can turn her head.

Even though she has the classic sausage curls, I found out when I researched her later, that she is not Shirley Temple as the vendor thought. She is Dianna Effner's Goldilocks made by Knowles in 1989-90.

Part of the fun after finding a doll you like, is researching to find out it's history. It's like continuing the treasure hunt... first the hunt for a bargain, then the hunt for information. I just love her side glancing eyes.

Another favorite store is called Country Home, where we found these Madame Alexander dolls and more.

My 11 year old daughter picked out this Madame Alexander Degas Girl to be her first vintage doll. She only paid $16.98 for her. She is about 13-14" tall and came in her original outfit and box.

On another visit, we found these 8" versions of the Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls that I got in miniature size last month. Madame Alexander calls them Mop Top Wendy and Mop Top Billy. They came in their original boxes with their stands. I paid $25 for the pair.

They look exactly like their Hallmark miniatures versions.

Speaking of Hallmark miniatures, I found this little Hallmark Pinocchio Marionette Miniature on eBay.

It is so tiny. It will be a perfect accessory for any size doll.

It also looks great in a dollhouse.

Another cute flea market find for the dollhouse was this little girl. She is playing school with her doll.

She is a Yesterdays' Child Dollstone Collection figurine from the 1996 Boyds Collection. They have such nicely painted fine details.

I picked up this glass greenhouse from the clearance aisle at Hobby Lobby, and used it to put Twinkle's Fairy House behind glass. These make nice, inexpensive display cases. $14 on clearance.

I found a larger cast iron stove at Country Home. It's just like the smaller one in Twinkle's Fairy House. I've seen these a few times in different sizes with very expensive price tags, over $100. I only paid $5 for Twinkle's dollhouse size one. This larger one was $18, but that is way less than I've seen them for elsewhere.

They are both made of cast iron.

Here is Ai Nerine BJD with the small one (she's a little bigger than Twinkle), and Hitty with the larger one. Hitty is 6" tall.

This is a tiny 1950's era vintage molded hard plastic baby. He measures 2 1/4" tall and is marked Renwal No. 8 on his back. He has brown painted hair, blue painted eyes and a white painted diaper. He has jointed movable arms and legs. Found him for $2 at a local flea market.

Found this little guy at the same flea market for $10. He is marked Ideal Pat.Pend. After researching, I found out that he is a Boopsie Doll, made by Ideal from 1950-55. He is 8" tall with an all hard plastic, jointed body and molded painted hair.

He has painted side glancing sleep eyes.

I also got this little girl at the same flea market for $3. She is a 1950's hard plastic 8" doll with sleep eyes and a blond wig.

She is a walker, which means her head turns from side to side when you move or "walk" her legs.

Vogue Ginny, Madame Alexander Wendy, and Nancy Ann Storybook dolls were all very popular in the 50's, and after doing some research, I believe this is one of the look-alike dolls. Because she has no markings, molded on shoes, and her arms appear a lighter color than her body, I believe she is a Pam doll made by the Fortune company.

Another 8" doll which was also $3 was this Ginnette doll made by Vogue from 1955 to 1969. She is Ginny doll's baby sister. She has an all vinyl jointed body with molded hair, sleep eyes, open mouth and a squeaker. If you squeeze her head or her body, she squeaks.

She is marked Vogue Dolls on her back, just above her squeaker. I need to find a pattern to make her a little dress.

The last little $3 doll that I got from that flea market was this little Campbell Kid. She is in need of clothes too.

She is marked on her neck Campbell Kid Made By Ideal Toy Corp. She has a soft vinyl jointed body with molded painted hair, painted eyes, and molded painted shoes and socks.

The vintage Ideal doll is a little taller than the newer Campbell Kids dolls.

Campbell Kids just have the cutest little faces. I just love the old Campbell's Soup sketches.

I've been collecting other items with the Campbell Kid sketches too. Found the soup mug at Goodwill for 99¢. The spice jars were from Danbury Mint, but I found these at an antique store for $3 each.

I found this pretty cloth doll at an antique store for $14. Her name is Evangeline, and she was made by a local artisan based on the poem by Henry Longfellow. She came with her hang tag which included the doll's back story and a note from a former state governor. I haven't been able to find out much about her or the artisan, but I suspect that the dolls might have been sold at the Old State Capital Museum Gift Shop sometime before 1996 based on the former governor's note and the telephone area code change.

This little parian china head sachet was just too pretty to pass up, especially for just 25¢.

I felt very fortunate to find this hand carved wooden Beckett Originals doll in a local antique store. According to Theriault's Auction catalog, Beckett Original wooden dolls were each hand-carved by the artist couple, June and Bob Beckett of Tennessee during the 1970's and 1980's. They were the founding members of ODACA, but they closed their workshop in 1989.

Her white outfit has lace trim, a bunny applique and is tagged Beckett Originals.

She has a hand-carved wooden head and hands and a muslin stitch-jointed body.

She has handpainted brown eyes, upturned nose, closed mouth, and a blond human hair wig. The opportunity to acquire a hand-carved wooden doll doesn't happen very often, and I am thrilled to adopt Pansy.

I love to pick up doll furniture when I find it too. I like to see dolls sitting in chairs, looking natural, instead of always on stands like soldiers. All six of these chairs are close to the same size, and were around $3 each. The black rocker in the middle bottom picture is made of brass or iron and is very heavy.

Here are some pictures with dolls to show size: 14" Oz China Girl, 12" Liv Katie, 15.25" Tonner Maudlynne. The low blue chair in the middle has been claimed by Pansy Beckett wooden doll. It's a perfect fit, as seen in her picture above.

Lastly, I thought I'd show the doll artwork that I've found lately. I fell in love with this one at a consignment store. Love the canvas, love the frame, bought it on sight and it's hanging in my dining room now.

Thinking about hanging this one in my dining room too, but I'd like to find another frame first.

I like this one for the bathroom or laundry room, just have to decide where.

The next two go together, but I'd like to find different frames for them.

I haven't decided where to put this one yet, but I love the rustic old crackled greenish frame. She looks like a little Kewpie.

Whew, this post has gotten very long. Please leave a comment if you made it this far. Let me know what you think of my finds. Tell me about your finds. I'd love to hear from you!!!

About Me

Hi! My name is Lisa, and I'm a stay-at-home christian homeschooling mom of 4, ages 9, 12, 20, and 25. I am blessed to have been happily married to the most loving and supportive husband for 28 years. He has been known to drive all day, through 3 states, to take us doll hunting. I love God and my family, and I have fun collecting dolls, building dollhouses & miniatures, and finding bargains. I'll be sharing our adventures with dolls, dollhouses, and bargain hunting here.